Mr Murphy Returns
by MarciaRebafan
Summary: Gibbs, Jenny and an unexpected third party. Because when everything seems to be right, a certain Mr. Murphy is going to enter the equation and somehow mess up the result. Oneshots based on Murphy's Laws, a collaboration with Psycho Maddy and MatteaAM.
1. If Anything Just Can't Go Wrong

**Author's Note:** In collaboration with _Psycho Maddy_ (who posted the first oneshot two days ago) and _MatteaAM_ (who will post the third oneshot on Saturday), I present to you the second oneshot in a series that will be entirely based on variations of Murphy's Laws. The first collaboration between Psycho Maddy, MatteaAM and myself, some of the stories may come off as crack!fic, but it's all done in good fun. Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!  
As usual, English isn't my first language and this wasn't beta'd, therefore you can blame me and Microsoft Words for all mistakes and imperfections.

* * *

_If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway._

"I don't think it's a good idea, Jen."

"Why not? I'm sure it's perfectly stable."

The _it_ in question was a wooden rocking chair, currently sitting in a corner of the basement.

The dark, polished wood seemed to glow in the yellow light radiating from the single lamp hanging from the ceiling, and Jenny admired the chair with the proud look of a mother watching her child.

Gibbs sent a quasi-patronising smile in her direction, taking in her ecstatic smile and the way her green eyes sparkled with excitement. The chair had been their - _her_ - project for the past few months, and Gibbs had to smile fondly at the memory of all the nights he had spent teaching Jenny how to use the tools, how to work the wood, drawing sketches of what the finished product would look like.

And to be fair, with her good work and his help, Jenny's rocking chair did look exactly like they had imagined it would be. Yet, Gibbs had never thought she would actually want to sit on her first attempt at a functioning rocking chair. In his mind, that had always only been a way for Jenny to try her hand at it before they would set out to build the real thing.

"Jen, I really don't think you should sit on it." He tried again, observing the chair with a critical eye. He could see all the weak points in its structure, could think of ways to fix it and make it work, if only she were willing to wait a few days longer.

But as it was, Jenny Shepard wasn't famous for her patience, and she had already exercised a remarkable amount of it as they built the chair.

"Jethro, come on…you build boats! Boats that can sail! And you helped me building this chair… what could possibly go wrong?"

'Too many things,' Gibbs thought, but he refrained from voicing his doubts again: chances were Jenny would file his concerns away in her mind under a label that simply read _chauvinism_. And deep down he knew that she might as well be right, but he wasn't ready to walk down that path quite yet.

"It's gonna be fine, Jethro," Jenny said, starting to sit down slowly. As the chair creaked but didn't give way, Gibbs thought that perhaps she was light enough for the chair to sustain her weight. She sat and grinned at him, "See? Nothing can go wrong."

She moved back, her upper body resting against the back of the chair, which made a series of feeble noises but still held.

Gibbs' eyes followed Jenny's every movement, his ears catching every sound, body tense and muscles ready to jump into action.

Jenny pushed gently with her feet and rocked once…twice… The chair squeaked on the concrete floor and she relaxed against its high back. So did Gibbs, his rigid stance softening as he started to think that maybe - just maybe - Jenny had been right.

She rocked again. And again, her face splitting into an even bigger grin, one hand sliding affectionately along the curved arm of her chair.

Then it collapsed.

Jenny's shriek of surprise was muffled by the loud crash as the chair came undone, and soon enough she was sitting on the floor, surrounded by the pieces of wood that had been her short-lived, yet well-loved rocking chair.

"You okay, Jen?" Gibbs stepped over to her quickly, a hand held out to help her up and a hint of a smile on his lips as she glared up at him.

"Are you laughing at me, Jethro?" She asked in a threatening tone, accepting his help to get off the dusty floor.

"Nope," Gibbs flashed a smirk and tugged her into his side as she half-heartedly punched his arm and looked longingly at the remains of her woodwork.

A moment passed as they observed the destroyed rocking chair in respectful silence, then Jenny sighed loudly, "I really liked that chair."

THE END


	2. Priorities

**Author's Note:** Hello, everybody! This is my second entry in the _"Mr. Murphy Returns"_ series. I suggest you read also the entry by _Psycho Maddy_, that she posted on Tuesday (chapter two of _"Meet Mr. Murphy"_), and wait to read _MatteaAM_'s entry on Saturday (chapter two of _"Toast Always Lands ButterSide Down"_). In the meantime, enjoy this offering of mine, and remember that the same old rules apply: English isn't my mother tongue, this chapter wasn't beta'd, and all mistakes and imperfections are to blame on me and Microsoft Word's spell-check.

* * *

'_Whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first.'_

Casting a look around her dimly lit study, Jenny smiled a satisfied smile and sat down at her desk, eyeing the pile of paperwork with a less than enthusiastic sigh. The soft jazz music and the orange glow of the light were relaxing, especially with the fire burning in the fireplace that diffused a gentle heat all around the room, helping to create the perfect setting for…anything but work.

Yet, here she was, Jennifer Shepard, Director of NCIS, looking warily at files and papers that needed to be read and signed by tomorrow morning. Of course it would have been much easier, and much faster, if she had just signed the papers without reading any of them; and her partner - _boyfriend?_ - never missed the chance to remind her, despite the good use he made of the nights she worked late, concentrating on his woodwork of choice. A crib, as of late.

Caressing her swollen belly, Jenny grinned even as she opened the first file in front of her and lifted her pen, starting to read the report DiNozzo had written and placed on her desk seconds before she left the office.

She was halfway through it, taking her time to enjoy Tony's descriptive and quite entertaining recollection of the day's events, when Gibbs' voice floated from upstairs, calling her name.

'_Of course.'_

Whenever she set out to do something - usually work -, something else came up that needed to be done. And of course that something else often had to do with Jethro.

"Jen, can you come up in the bathroom for a sec?" He yelled again down the stairs, or so it sounded, and Jenny got up with a sigh, letting her pen fall on DiNozzo's report.

She walked up the stairs slowly and carefully, and when she walked through the bathroom door, the rich scent of sandalwood she always associated with her body wash hit her. Her eyes stopped on the filled bathtub, bubbles covering its top entirely, and she turned to look at Gibbs.

There he stood in the corner, with what was supposed to be a boyish, almost sheepish grin on his face, but she recognized it exactly for what it was: the smug smile of a man who knew he had hit the point.

"How about you hop in the tub and relax a bit?" He said softly, moving behind her to massage her shoulders.

"I've got work to do, Jethro." She objected, yet not as strongly as she was supposed to. Her back was killing her, and she was sure the water temperature was perfect, just the way she liked it. Despite her reluctance, the idea of taking advantage of the situation and having a bath sounded tempting and so very good.

"Work can wait." He muttered, pressing a kiss to her hair and starting to take off her maternity clothes.

Less than two minutes later they were both relaxing in the bathtub, her back pressed against his chest and his hands covering her stomach.

"I've really got work to do." Jenny sighed after a while, turning her head slightly to look at him.

Gibbs shrugged, "You can sign the papers later."

"And what about reading them?" She chuckled, placing a soft kiss on his jaw.

"Waste of time." His hands moved up her body to knead the muscles in her neck, and she let out a satisfied groan. "Good?"

"Very." She smiled blissfully and leant more into his touch. "So you're saying it's all about priorities?" She asked after a short silence, a small smile on her lips.

"Mmhmm, priorities." Gibbs nodded and kissed the back of her neck, smiling as the goosebumps erupted all over her skin.

Jenny shivered slightly and bit back a soft moan, "And being in this tub with you is my priority at the moment, I assume?" Her fingers curled around his knees as he kissed her neck again, and she let out a real moan this time, unable to hold back.

As he watched her resolve crumble, Gibbs smirked victoriously, "Of course it is."

THE END


	3. Wounded Pride

**Author's Note:** Good morning! Thursday is my day to post, so I present to you with this ficlet that I had, alas, so little time to plan and write, after _Psycho Maddy_ went rogue with her Tuesday update. I still love you, Amanda, don't worry!

I hope you will enjoy this offering anyway, and if you haven't yet, go back and read _Psycho Maddy_'s story. You won't regret it!

* * *

_When all else fails, read the instructions._

"Jethro?"

The house was dark and eerily silent when Jenny Shepard walked in, the front door falling shut behind her. Her brown-haired, four-year-old daughter ran up ahead, towards the only source of light in the house.

"Daddy? We're hoooome!" Avery yelled, starting to run up the stairs while Jenny placed the take-out bags on the kitchen table.

"In here!" Gibbs yelled back from upstairs, and his answer was followed by a thud and a muttered curse.

Avery giggled, running into her bedroom and attacking her father with a bear hug, "Hi, daddy! Whatcha doin'?"

"Building a castle for my princess." Gibbs answered with a grin, hugging his girl tightly and kissing her forehead.

"Or trying to." Jenny murmured to herself and chuckled, stopping in the doorway.

And in fact, Gibbs didn't seem to have gotten very far, judging by the mess of tools and pieces of plastic littering the floor.

"Something is missing." He said, as though that was explanation enough.

Jenny smirked, "You think? How about instructions?"

"Don't trust them." Gibbs walked over to her, Avery still safely held in his arms, and gave Jenny a chaste kiss on the lips.

"It's my castle, mommy!" The little girl said, her voice betraying her excitement at the idea of having a castle in her room; no matter the size or material it was made of.

"It will be, yes. But now your dad needs to take a break, before dinner gets cold."

"Yeah, go wash your hands, kiddo. And after dinner you can help me in here." Gibbs put Avery back down on the ground and patted her bum, sending her off to the bathroom to wash up.

Jenny smiled, watching her daughter run away and, when Avery was out of sight, she stepped closer to Gibbs to greet him with a proper kiss.

"Too much trouble with it?" She whispered when they broke apart.

"Nope, everything's good." Was Gibbs' quick - _too quick_ - answer, but Jenny kept from calling him out on that and just dropped the subject, smirking knowingly for a moment before she moved away from him to walk downstairs, "Go wash up too, dinner's waiting."

* * *

"I'm ready, daddy!"

When the young, high-pitched voice announced Avery's appearance, Gibbs turned towards the door and was unable to hold back a laugh at the sight of his daughter's improbable outfit: purple Daisy Duck pyjamas, lilac bunny slippers and a hot pink toy helmet on her pretty little head.

Her big green eyes sparkled with excitement and she was almost jumping up and down as she eyed her father's tools on the floor. "What can I do?"

Gibbs smiled, "Hold this up like this." He said, pointing at a piece of plastic almost twice Avery's size.

The girl set to carry out the task with a most determined look in her eyes - which suddenly looked even more like Jenny's, Gibbs thought -, and he just had to grin at her before his face scrunched up into a frown while he stared at the plastic with two bolts in his hand.

After twenty minutes, only one wall of the miniature castle had been erected, and it appeared to be leaning dangerously on one side, the pieces awkwardly stuck together.

By the time Gibbs was trying to figure out how to make the wall stand upright - and thinking that he would have rather built himself a wooden castle for his daughter - Avery had surrendered to boredom and tiredness and was lounging on the carpet, fiddling with tools and bolts and singing off-key not so quietly.

"Daddy?" She called after a while, after a seemingly forgotten piece of paper caught her attention, effectively stopping her mid-song.

Gibbs didn't look up from his work right away, moving the pieces and observing the change in the angle and side of inclination as he tried to fit another couple of segments in the already awkward structure, "What?"

"What is this?"

He finally looked up at the question, and immediately glowered at the single sheet of paper in his daughter's little hand, "Instructions, kid." He answered vaguely.

"Oh." A pause, as Avery pondered his answer, grasping the meaning of the word he'd used as she observed the drawings on the paper. "Oh!" She repeated then, looking up again once everything was finally clear to her.

"Daddy… I think it's faster if you do it like it says here." She stated solemnly, nodding her head for emphasis.

Gibbs sighed in defeat.

Sometimes, hearing his little girl state the obvious could be such a hard blow to his pride.

* * *

**THE END**


	4. Ten Minutes

**Author's Note:** The rating goes up to T for this update, and that's pretty much everything I needed to let you know, my dear readers. Thanks to all who put the story on alert, favorited and reviewed so far. Your nice words make my days!

Special thanks to _MatteaAM_ for reading this yesterday and giving me a shot of confidence when I was in need of it.

* * *

_You can get ANYWHERE in ten minutes if you go fast enough._

"Green or red?"

Jethro Gibbs looked up into the mirror, the razor with which he had been shaving raised mid-hair in his hand, his eyes fixed on his wife's reflection.

Jenny was holding up two dresses - one green and sleeveless, with a flowing skirt down to her ankles, the other red and strapless, the skirt reaching down to the middle of her calves.

"Jethro?" She called, when he failed to answer her question, too busy staring at her attractive figure clad in black lacy lingerie.

"Yeah…" Gibbs cleared his throat and resumed his shaving, keeping an eye on her reflection, "Why not that black number you bought the other day?"

Jenny's eyes widened, "Jethro, that one's completely backless…"

Gibbs smirked, washing the shaving cream off his face and approaching her, "So? It's sexy." He murmured, pressing a kiss behind her ear as he walked past her and into their bedroom.

Jenny grinned, "Fine, let's see how inappropriately I can dress for a party at the White House." She chuckled, walking back into the bedroom as well to place the dresses in her hands back into her closet and pull out the black gown.

A halter neck top, a long flowing skirt, low-cut front, and…practically non-existent back. Not a single thread of clothing from the neck down to the very small of Jenny's back.

The dress was daring, sinful and so very sexy, and she smirked, laying it neatly on the bed as she unclasped her strapless bra.

Gibbs' eyes followed her every movement with badly concealed interest, the bright blue turning darker every second.

With her hair still pinned in a messy bun, Jenny slid the dress over her head. The fabric clung perfectly to her curves, the halter neck pushing her breasts up, making them look even fuller and larger.

She turned around slightly to check her reflection in the mirror, her eyes stopping on the sensual curve of her backside for a moment, satisfied to see how the cut of the dress enhanced her figure. When she looked up, her eyes met Gibbs' in the mirror, the feral look in his penetrating blue eyes sending a chill down her back as she bit her lip lightly.

"You like it?" She asked, her voice huskier than she expected.

"Oh, yeah." Gibbs walked over to her, and she found herself catching her breath for a second as he leant over her - practically covering her with his much larger body, and grabbed a black tie from a rack in the closet.

The scent of his after-shave overpowering her senses, Jenny absent-mindedly turned around to look in the mirror as she removed the pin from her hair, letting the long, red locks tumble down her back and combing her fingers through them in an attempt to keep getting ready; her eyes otherwise occupied staring at her husband's hands as he struggled with the tie.

"May I?" She said after a moment, turning to Gibbs as she already couldn't help reaching for his tie.

He didn't say anything and just nodded his head briefly before he straightened his neck to let her help him. Her soft hands brushed his chin a few times, and Jenny had to stand on her tiptoes to give his tie the final touches, her body virtually trapped between the mirror and him.

For a moment, Gibbs thought that the expensive, heady smell of her perfume was going to drive him insane, so when their eyes met and Jenny licked her lips in anticipation, the slightest pull on his tie was enough for him to press her up against the mirror, his mouth hungrily seeking hers.

The kiss they shared was fierce and passionate, and only when the lack of oxygen threatened to become a problem did Jenny break it, struggling to think clearly as Gibbs' lips and teeth on her neck successfully managed to distract her.

"Jethro…" She called, but it sounded more like a moan than she intended it to, "…White House… We can't."

If he hadn't been too busy hiking his wife's dress up and kissing her neck, Gibbs would have laughed at her failed attempt to stop him. It tended to be quite hard to believe that she was serious when she was already loosening the tie she had just fixed, and her long fingers seemed determined to unbutton his shirt as fast as humanly possible.

As it was, he just smirked into the soft skin under her chin, her loud moan almost drowning out his murmured words as he slipped his fingers inside her lacy underwear, "We won't be late, I promise."

* * *

No longer than thirty minutes later, Jenny Shepard, Director of NCIS, stepped out of the black town car, while her husband handed the keys to a valet and joined her at the entrance of the White House.

They were just in time, and Jenny did her best to smile to fellow guests even though she was feeling rather queasy.

Truthfully, she had forgotten just how fast Gibbs could drive.

* * *

**THE END**


	5. It Happens

**Author's Note:** Hello, my dear readers! This week I'm posting on Tuesday instead of Thursday, due to a few complications for _Psycho Maddy_. **The rating for this chapter is M, and there is sexual content in this chapter, so stay away if that's not your thing.** What else? Oh right, if you don't enjoy this update, I know what you mean: I quite dislike it myself, but I wrote it in less than an hour and I didn't really have time to think about it and plan as much as I would have liked.

Many thanks to _MatteaAM_ for being a sweetheart, helping me with the editing/proof-reading, and being just generally awesome.

* * *

_All great discoveries are made by mistake._

_

* * *

_

"Oh God! Right there!"

Merciless nails raked down Gibbs' back and he increased his pace, feeling her tighten a little more around him.

It wasn't surprising to realize that Jenny was already so impossibly near the edge even though the actual intercourse had barely just started. When he had walked into the secluded hotel room they had been living in for the last four days, something definitely X-rated was going on in the room of the man they were investigating.

Their hidden camera was set at a rather interesting angle, and Jenny seemed to be trying hard not to stare at the screen, her recently discarded sweatshirt hanging haphazardly on the back of the chair she was sitting on. When he approached her, she had jumped slightly, a blush spreading from her collarbone to her cheeks, as her eyes met his with a look that was both embarrassed and aroused.

Gibbs' mind barely had the time to register just how dilated her pupils were - her green eyes almost black with repressed lust - before she almost literally attacked him, her mouth forcefully claiming his as her hands were everywhere, undressing him at a speed that he wouldn't have thought possible.

So, no, it wasn't a surprise that she was already so far gone, and when she climaxed, Gibbs stood still, simply enjoying the way her body reacted; sure that the sounds she was making and the way her muscles were clamping around him would be enough to drag him too over the edge.

Jenny, however, seemed to have other plans, and he couldn't help but oblige when her hands slid down the expanse of his back to his ass and her legs tightened around his waist, urging him on. As soon as he picked up his rhythm, she was moaning softly again, and the orgasm that had just wrecked her body was subsiding fractionally, her entire figure slowly easing into post-coital relaxation.

When her muscles contracted suddenly - almost painfully - around him, and she tensed again, Gibbs was too surprised to react. His body betrayed him and sent him right over the edge with one last, instinctive thrust, and that seemed to be enough for Jenny too; her high-pitched cry piercing the air as she climaxed again.

* * *

Moments later, when their breathing had finally returned to normal and their heartbeat had slowed considerably, Jenny and Gibbs lay in bed, wrapped in the sheets and each other's body, each lost in thoughts of their own.

"That was…unexpected." Jenny said at last, the first to break the deafening silence between them.

"Hmm. Surprising." Gibbs agreed, pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder and caressing the curve of her hip.

"It just never happened before. A bit odd." She continued quietly, timidly, settling into his chest and tracing random patterns on his skin.

"Oh," was all he offered in reply, and Jenny really didn't need to look up to see the self-satisfied smirk spreading on his face as the implications of her statement dawned on him.

She just rolled her eyes and chuckled to herself: hard to think her partner's ego could get any bigger and yet… it happens.

* * *

**THE END**


	6. Accidental Perfection

**Author's Note: **Good morning, lovely readers! I'm taking the Tuesday update again this week because it works better with my schedule at university now; I think next week - for the last update - I'll have Tuesday too, but I'm not sure. Anyway, this ficlet is the longest yet, and my favourite so far. I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you'll enjoy reading it, even though it may sound terribly out of character at times. I apologise for that.

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, favourited or put the story on alert. I appreciate it! Also many thanks to _Psycho Maddy_ for helping me out with this when I was stuck. She's the best!

* * *

"_Any instrument when dropped will roll into the least accessible corner."_

Friday nights were never a big deal, where he and Jenny were concerned. That's what Jethro Gibbs thought about, as he parked the car and unlocked the front door a little after nine o'clock. It wasn't surprising to find the townhouse dark and eerily silent; Noemi had left already, of course, and when he'd left the office, Jenny was in MTAC butting heads with the director of the FBI over jurisdiction. And he wasn't the cause of it, for a change.

Walking inside the house, Gibbs let the door fall shut behind his back and hung his coat on the rack, dropping the car keys inside a glass bowl Jenny insisted on keeping on a small table in the hall. He briefly remembered arguing with her about it - refusing to oblige her request to keep things in order, even - and then the whole thing had sneaked up on him and become a habit of sorts. Sometimes he wondered what would happen if the bowl suddenly disappeared; where would he automatically drop his keys every night?

Rolling his eyes at his own thoughts, he shook his head and let his feet lead him into the kitchen. Noemi's note - reminding them that dinner was in the oven and they just needed to heat it - was on the counter, like every night, and the entire thing spoke volumes about how much had changed in the past year and a half.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs had become a man of routine, a man used to living with his partner, sharing his vital space as he hadn't in years. In some ways, it was different from what it had felt like sharing his house with his ex-wives. He didn't know if it was the fact that this wasn't the same house, and it didn't hold the same memories his did, but he thought it was mostly a subtle difference about the way he and Jenny acted around each other.

They left room enough for the other to breathe, and only a few times he had found himself craving for space, when both were most stressed out and work had forced its way into their normally rather blissful private life.

It was a huge accomplishment for both of them, one that he intended to acknowledge.

Instinctively, his hand reached into the pocket of his trousers, pulling out a small, blue, velvet box and lifting the top of it to admire his purchase. Despite his usually impulsive nature, Gibbs had taken his time picking out the ring currently nestled within the box. He didn't want it to be too formal, nor too informal, for that matter. He just wanted it to be special, something that would have a meaning for them without making promises that both weren't sure they could keep.

He had found the perfect ring after he searched for a while: five small diamonds on a thin white gold band. It didn't look like an engagement ring, really, because that wasn't what he was going for at all, but it was meaningful enough.

Closing the box again, Gibbs allowed a self-satisfied smile on his face as he jogged up the stairs to his and Jenny's bedroom. He was going to put the box on her bedside table and just let her find it on her own before she went to sleep. No big deal, no extremely romantic gestures that would ring untrue to her coming from him.

He placed the box on the bedside table on top of Jenny's book, and stepped back to see how it looked. He narrowed his eyes.

'No box. The less formal the better', he thought, and stepped closer to the bedside table again to take the ring out of its container, which he slipped back into his pocket. Then he placed the ring on the book again and moved back.

Now, that was much better.

Another self-satisfied smile spread on his face, and Gibbs started to undress, to change into his sweats. The trousers were the first to go, ending in a messy heap on the bed, and he started to unbutton his shirt as he walked towards the closet to retrieve a pair of sweat pants. Then, as he so often did, he threw the shirt on the bed from his position in front of the closet.

The soft thump of the item landing on the comforter was immediately followed by a clinking sound that made Gibbs' head snap around, his eyes focusing on the bedside table.

The ring was gone.

The cause of its apparent disappearance was the right sleeve of his shirt, which had seemingly decided to go rogue and knock the ring off the table.

Putting on his sweat pants as fast as possible, and not bothering with a T-shirt, Gibbs all but ran to Jenny's side of the bed, frantically looking for the misplaced object. When he didn't find it anywhere in sight, he returned to his side, grabbing a small flashlight from the drawer of his bedside table.

Flashlight in hand, he knelt on the bed and pointed the small yet bright light down to illuminate the thin space between the headboard and the wall. When the light reflected on the diamonds and gold of the ring, glimmering faintly in the darkness, he jumped off the bed and set to move it just enough to grab the ring and put it back where it was supposed to be.

Before he could even place his hands on the headboard, the front door slammed and the sound of Jenny's voice made him freeze.

"Jethro? Are you upstairs?"

Gibbs muttered a curse under his breath and almost jumped off the bed, switching off the flashlight and throwing it back into his drawer, and then he turned to the doorway to find a smiling Jenny.

"Hey…" She walked up to him and placed her hands on his chest as she leant in for a soft kiss. "Sorry it took me so long."

Gibbs made an unintelligible sound and pressed another kiss to her lips, his hands sneaking to her hips to pull her closer.

"Did Noemi leave dinner?" Jenny asked, pulling back slightly and looking up at him.

"Yeah, in the oven. We have to heat it up." He mumbled, kissing the side of her head.

She nodded and caressed his bare chest, "Then why don't you do that while I get changed? I really need to take off these heels."

"Sure." Gibbs gave a brief nod, his mind already racing, trying to figure out a way of getting the ring out without her noticing, while he grabbed a T-shirt and put it on.

"Thank you." Jenny kissed his chin and smiled, watching him leave the room as she started to take off her work clothes.

* * *

"Shit."

The curse left Jenny's lips in a soft tone, and she grimaced as she saw the earring disappear behind the headboard. How it got there she didn't even know, it just seemingly flew from her hands.

That's what working too hard and too late did to her, her body took on a mind of its own and did things it wasn't supposed to. Like throwing earrings behind the bed.

With a loud, exasperated sigh, she pushed the bedside table slightly aside and pulled on the headboard to move the bed; there was no chance she was leaving her earring there and forgetting about it. And there was no doubt that she would forget about it.

As soon as the bed was out of the way, the soft light of the room brightened the usually dark space between the headboard and the wall, and she immediately saw her earring.

Along with something else.

Frowning, Jenny bent down to pick up her misplaced piece of jewelry, as well as another piece of jewelry she definitely hadn't misplaced. She didn't even know it existed.

The shiny ring looked brand new and the five little diamonds on it sparkled insistently, catching the light like only new stones do.

She felt a grin spread on her face as the implications of why and how that ring was in the room dawned on her. And there she thought Jethro couldn't be romantic if he tried!

With the precious ring clutched in her hand, wearing her sweat pants and an old NCIS T-shirt, her hair haphazardly held up by a half-broken pin, Jenny Shepard made her way down the stairs to where she could hear her partner making clumsy noises in the kitchen.

When he turned around, Gibbs found himself face to face with Jenny, her shit-eating grin, and the shiny new ring held in the palm of her open hand.

"Anything you want to tell me Jethro?" Was all she said, her grin still firmly in place and her eyes sparkling with amusement and sheer joy.

Right then, that's when he knew that the moment he thought ruined had just become accidentally perfect.

* * *

**THE END**


End file.
